Americas

The Learfield Sports agency has signed media rights deals with the athletics divisions of Butler University and the University of Northern Iowa.

US pay-television operator Charter Communications has today (Tuesday) said it will acquire fellow cable operator Time Warner Cable in a deal valued at $78.7bn (€69.3bn).

ESPN has renewed a sublicensing deal with rival international pay-television sports broadcaster Fox Sports Latin America to acquire rights for the Bundesliga top division of German football across Latin America and certain territories in the Caribbean.

MP & Silva will distribute the global rights to Miami FC matches after the agency’s president and founder, Riccardo Silva, teamed up with Italian football legend Paolo Maldini to form the new North American Soccer League team.

Spotify has said sports broadcaster ESPN will be one of its initial partners as it seeks to diversify from its core music streaming business into video content.

Brazilian pay-television channel Sports Plus is set to close by the end of the year, according to multiple reports.

Pan-regional pay-television broadcaster DirecTV has agreed a three-year deal to sublicense exclusive free-to-air rights to Fifa football competitions in Trinidad & Tobago.

The B4 Capital agency has struck a deal to distribute worldwide media rights to an exhibition football match between US club New York Cosmos and the Cuba national team.

Mexican telecommunications company América Móvil has acquired rights to broadcast the 2015 European Games across Central and South America, further broadening the reach of the inaugural edition of the multi-sport event.

US pay-television sports broadcaster ESPN has expanded its long-term partnership with Mountain West by acquiring the rights to the US college sports conference’s annual American football championship game.

Social media platform Snapchat has entered into a partnership with MLB Advanced Media, Major League Baseball’s interactive media and internet company, to supply weekly video content to its users.

The welterweight world title unification boxing clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas earlier this month has smashed the US record for pay-per-view buys.

US network ABC will broadcast its first NFL American football game in 10 years next season, with sports broadcaster ESPN agreeing to a simulcast deal for the Wild Card Weekend on January 9-10.

Canadian pay-television broadcaster Rogers Sportsnet has renewed a broadcast and multimedia rights deal for the Rogers Cup tennis tournament.

Cuban state broadcaster Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión has signed up as the first Latin American broadcast partner for the 2015 European Games, while organisers of the inaugural multi-sport event in Baku have agreed a partnership with the Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC).

US pay-television broadcaster ESPN is not expected to retain rights for British golf major the Open beyond 2017, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper.